5 ways electric cars outperform gas-powered cars

Tesla recently revealed the 2020 Roadster, which will do a 0-to-60-mph run in under 2 seconds. (Image courtesy of Tesla Inc.)

A proper gas-powered car is a joy to drive. Your senses take a joy ride when the sound hits your ears, the acceleration tosses you in your seat, and sometimes even the smell wafts into your nose.

The days of gas-powered cars are numbered though. This is a fact we can't deny. Electric cars, however, have a lot to offer the world even for those of us who still dig tinkering with carburetors or nailing a heel-toe downshift. Here are five ways that electric cars outperform their gasoline-drinking counterparts.

If you like torque, then you should love electric vehicles. While automakers have created modern engines where peak torque comes on very low and hangs in there for a large portion of the rev range, it's electric cars that are the torque kings. That's because peak torque happens instantly in an electric motor. When you press that "gas" pedal, you're going to feel all of the torque the motor is capable of generating, and it's going to press you deep into your seat.

Many of you out there love manual gearboxes, but it's no secret that automatic transmissions are faster and smarter than ever before. With an electric car, you can actually simplify the process of transferring power from a motor to the wheels. In fact, you can have the motors right next to the wheels and let them directly drive those wheels. With some gear reduction in place, two, three, or four motors can be placed to distribute power efficiently as needed to any of the four wheels in a vehicle. This means power where you want it, and tremendous control of the available traction as well.

With an electric car, you'll find you have more exacting control over your throttle input. The percentage of pedal travel you're giving your car is the percentage of power you're telling the motor to send out. If you want 50% of the power, you simply use 50% of your pedal travel and you get what you asked for.

Brake fade is also far less likely with a properly setup electric vehicle. This is because you're capturing the heat generated by your braking system. It's not sticking around, sapping your braking ability but rather being used to inject some energy back into your battery pack. Heat is the enemy of traditional brake system. On an electric vehicle? It's your key to more juice while you're out driving around.

Finally, in a traditional car you'll find that engineers have to work with very specific sets of packaging requirements. The engine layout and vehicle type immediately dictate the basic layout of the cabin space. In an electric vehicle, battery packs offer flexibility in terms of packaging. Additionally, using multiple electric motors allows you to get your required power output without the need for one larger motor placed in a spot where it eats up lots of the available room. Get your battery pack in place, spread some motors out to all four wheels, and then let an engineer and designer run wild with their packaging ideas.

So while our gas-powered car has a ticking clock above its head, we shouldn't be afraid of our all-electric future. Batteries are getting smaller while also able to soak up more juice, and the motors they power are always ready to dole out that delicious torque. The future will be fun, because automotive enthusiasm isn't dying... it's evolving.